Join us at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum for a weekend of vintage technology!

This event highlights the technology of the Trolley Era (particularly centered on communications) and is included with general admission.  Explore antique radios, typewriters, printing presses, victrolas, phonographs, and more! We’re a museum within a museum this weekend – come meet the exhibitors and see the passion they have for their hobbies!

Along with the event, visitors can also explore our interactive exhibits in our Welcome & Education Center, take a trolley for a ride on our 4-mile round-trip line, and discover our historic streetcar collection.  Our regular admission rates are $20 for adults, $19 for seniors, and $15 for children 3-18. Children under 3 are free.

Confirmed exhibitors and things to do:

• Local amateur radio clubs will be setting up a special event station (W3T) and inviting visitors to explore the historic (and modern!) world of ham radio. Test out your Morse code skills on a practice key!
• You’ve heard of a printing press – now’s your chance to test one out! Wayne and Nancy Young from the print shop in Portersville will be sharing and demonstrating their printing press.
• Typewriter enthusiasts are invited to display their machines and to set up machines the public can use! We’ll have many machines to test out as part of the event from the collection of David Cannon. The museum will happily host buy/sell/trade tables as well. Type a letter to send in the mail and test out the different fonts and feelings of these classic machines
• WJPA’s G-Whiz George will showcase his 1950s phonographs, with some of the RCA models manufactured just next door to the museum!
• The DeBence Museum will host a table featuring vintage music technology from our collection. These fascinating pieces showcase the evolution of music history and how advancements in sound and recording helped shape broader societal changes, including the rise of computerization. Best of all, our exhibits are hands-on! Visitors will be invited to listen, interact, and become part of the music-making experience.
• Viewpoint Production Services will share a collection of antique broadcasting equipment. Could you make it as a 1970s news videographer with all that heavy equipment?
• Food truck TBA
• Retro fun: learn how to create a cassette mix tape on a boom box and explore the world of early 2000s digital photography
• Gaming: Play an 8-bit game emulator to see how video games have evolved over the last 40+ years
• MANY more to come

Exhibitor Invite:

Do you collect vintage technology? Please reach out to Kristen at kfred@patrolley.org if you’d be willing to share/display/showcase your…

• antique radios
• antique telephones
• antique televisions
• vintage cameras
• retro computers
• jukeboxes
• newspapers
• recording or broadcasting equipment
• retro gaming systems
• …or anything else interesting!

Hotel Info

• This year, we’re working with HomeTowne Studios & Suites Washington by Red Roof at 2110 N Franklin Dr, Washington, PA 15301. Call the hotel front desk at (724) 884-0299 and mention the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum to receive the discounted rate of $69.89 plus tax (Sunday-Thursday) and $82.89 plus tax (Fridays and Saturdays). Jacuzzi rooms available for $15 upgrade! Rate is valid all of 2024. Rooms include a free breakfast and free parking.
• Special rates for museum-goers are also available at the Quality Inn & Suites (501 Racetrack Rd in Washington, PA) (formerly Microtel). Phone (724) 705-7676. Rates vary by season – mention the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum when asking about special rates.
• Visit the Hampton Inn Washington website (119 Murtland Ave) and enter the code 0003472486 in the Corporate Account box under Special Rates to receive 12% off the regular room rate. Guests can call the hotel directly to book this discounted rate as well at (724) 228-4100.
• There are many other hotels nearby along Racetrack Road within 10 minutes of the Museum and elsewhere in Washington, PA within a 15 minute drive.

More Information about our Exhibitors:

Printing Press: Come see the Steam Show Print Shop from the Northwest PA Steam Engine and Old Equipment Association! We will be demonstrating how hand-set type was used in the 1700s to the mid 1900s. Books, magazines, newspapers, wedding invitations, and other printed materials were created using this technique. Print your own souvenir on our Kelsey table top press!

Amateur Radio: WA3COM is coordinating and organizing the amateur radio communications for this event, including the special event station. Station call sign W3T– ham radio operators are encouraged to work us on the air! Visitors can see a functioning amateur radio station, and an amateur radio operator will help you try to make a radio call! Representatives from the Washington Amateur Communications (WA3COM) will be on hand to answer all of your ham radio-related questions! Modes demonstrated will include CW (Morse code), SSB (phone), and FT8 (digital).

More to come!